Angela Merkel receives a dose of Modern after the first shot of AstraZeneca Angela Merkel News

Several countries have agreed to switch COVID vaccines to second doses and several medical studies are underway.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the Moderna coronavirus vaccine as her second blow after receiving the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, a government spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The 66-year-old woman received her first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine in April, after German authorities recommended using it only to people 60 years of age and older after more than two weeks.

Millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been safely administered in Europe, but there are concerns about a rare type of blood clot seen in a very small number of recipients, which is due to the age or health of some people in certain priority groups. they preferred to wait for one.

Dozens of countries stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine in March or restricted it to adults. However, several of them – including Germany – have since been re-used completely or with restrictions, after health regulators said the benefits of the shot outweighed the risks.

Germany in April recommended that people who received the first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine receive another dose for the second dose. Many other European countries made similar decisions.

Since Totelka began, the spread of vaccines in Germany has accelerated rapidly in recent weeks. As of Tuesday, two or 51.2% of the population had received the first dose.

Mixing vaccines

Some experts believe that switching COVID vaccines to second doses may increase immunity and several medical studies are underway.

A small study of the use of different COVID vaccines in two dose vaccines in the UK found that people who received the Pfizer vaccine with the AstraZeneca dose or vice versa were more likely to report common or moderate post-vaccine symptoms than if they had received two. doses of the same type.

Novavax, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine, said on May 21 that it would participate in a COVID-19 vaccine blend test to test the use of an additional dose of another vaccine from a different manufacturer. The trial is set to begin in June in the UK.

Meanwhile, Canada, which is facing a shortage of supplies, has recommended the use of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in a variable manner.

The government on Monday said it was delaying sending 2.4 million doses a week to Pfizer, leaving the province to change Pfizer’s appointments to Moderna and asking people not to leave their owners, the National Observer of Canada. reported.

Ontario officials have informed residents that they can receive a variety of mRNA vaccines – advanced technology used in Pfizer-BioNTech and Modern plans.

“We want to get full protection as soon as possible,” Dr. David Williams told the National Observer.

“Vaccines can be confused,” he said.

Officials in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec have asked citizens and residents to do the same.

“Our public health says you can have the same or a mix, the benefits are far greater than the low risk,” Quebec Prime Minister Francois Legault said Monday.